Paudie Clifford of Kerry makes his way onto the pitch before the 2024 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Armagh and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
We don’t quite know what the 2025 inter-county Gaelic football will spring on us, and perhaps the Kerry footballers are the biggest imponderable of all.
In fairness, trying to gauge their true worth has been challenging for a few years now.
They looked like the coming team when they drew with a Dublin at the peak of their powers in the 2019 All-Ireland Final but were then KO’d in Munster the following year by an unheralded Cork team.
Raging favourites going into the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone, they were mugged again on a day when expectation seemed to weigh heavily.
You figured the 2022 All-Ireland Championship win was a watershed moment that would herald a period of Kerry dominance, but not so.
Since then they’ve been on the wrong side of fine margins, losing to Dublin by two points in the 2023 All-Ireland Final and to Armagh by the same margin in last year’s semi-final.
You could argue they should have won both of those games had they been more clinical. You could also argue they lost them because this Kerry team is consistently found wanting when it comes down to the defining granular moments of crunch games.
It’s difficult to know just how good they are and you wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t have the answer to that question themselves because their last two championship exits must have sapped their self-belief.
At the launch of this year’s Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé which takes place from February 23-25, Kerry midfielder Diarmuid O’Connor admitted the last couple of years have taken a toll mentally.
“It’s tough,” said O’Connor. “I won’t lie about that and it takes time to get over it, particularly when it’s back-to-back years and you fail.
“I suppose a lot of the squad were there in 2020 and 2021 when we had tough defeats and we came out the right side of it. I suppose you’re taking those learnings that you took from back then, as well as those from the last two years, and just trying to overcome it and get better because that’s all you can do.
“It’s just knuckle down, work a bit, work hard and see where you can improve.”
Kerry footballers Diarmuid O'Connor and Mary O'Connell pictured at the launch of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé 2025 which will take place all across the Dingle Peninsula from the 21st – 23rd February.
The most reasonable assessment of Kerry is that they’re a very good side who have the ability to win an All-Ireland in any given year, but are not quite a complete team.
Too dependent on David Clifford in attack, too dependent on O’Connor in the middle third, and lacking an impact from the bench.
The departure of Cillian Burke to the AFL and the retirement of Adrian Spillane and Stephen O’Brien exacerbates these weaknesses, so the priority for the upcoming League campaign must be to successfully blood a handful of players who can make an impact come the summer.
“Cillian will be a big loss,” admits O’Connor. “Last year was his first year on the panel and you could see how much he had developed from start to finish and you were excited to see what he could do in his second year and push on.
“Obviously, it wasn’t to be and he’s over in Australia now and we wish him the best. But, with Stephen and Adrian as well, they will be huge losses to the panel and it will be up to the boys who were brought in to step up and grab those jerseys.
“We needed to add to the panel because of the couple of boys we lost in the off-season. The lads who have come in have done a great job so far. They’re all great characters. Hopefully, going into the league, they’ll get a bit of game-time.”
The teams that lift silverware in 2025 will be the ones that better adapt to the new FRC rule enhancements.
Diarmuid O'Connor of Kerry, right, and Kerry manager Jack O'Connor celebrate after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Kerry and Derry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile.
It’s tempting to suggest prospects such as the increased profitability of kick-passing and players like David Clifford and Sean O’Shea operating in more space than they’ve been accustomed to will play to Kerry’s hand, but only time will tell.
“The last couple of years [football] has kind of veered very defensively,” says O’Connor. “I suppose the easiest way for teams to try and win was to set up defensively. With the new rules you have to be a bit more offensive-minded in keeping the three up, so that will benefit in terms of kicking. Obviously ,long kick-outs will come into play then as well.
“It’s definitely going into the unknown because as much as you can get stuff done in training and challenge games, there is no substitution for competitive football and what that brings. Again, you’ll take learnings from Sunday and from the following week and throughout the league. It mightn’t be until the middle stage of the championship, or late in it, that teams really nail down exactly what’s going on and what other teams are doing.
“Subs and panel depth will have a huge say – especially as the year goes on and players pick up knocks. There are a lot of elements of the new rules that we haven’t seen yet and teams mightn’t see for a while yet. It will be a work in progress to get used to them and see what other teams are doing as the year goes on.”
The bookies have made Kerry favourites for both League and Championship honours this year but great expectations have rarely led to the same outcome for this generation of Kerry players. Will 2025 be any different?
15 counties from the four provinces of Ireland will take part in the 36th edition of the Lidl Comórtas Peile Páidí Ó Sé, with 28 adult men’s and ladies club teams coming for a weekend of competitive football and social events from February 21st to 23rd. Full details available on www.Paidiose.com.
